Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 17,300 Shares of Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings in Alliant Energy Co. (NASDAQ:LNT) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,862 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,300 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Alliant Energy were worth $5,551,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 10,691,172 shares of the company’s stock worth $648,847,000 after purchasing an additional 65,110 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,593,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,880,000 after buying an additional 92,525 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Alliant Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $133,237,000 after acquiring an additional 36,438 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 1,815,769 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,385,000 after acquiring an additional 9,281 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Alliant Energy by 92.7% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,604,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,363,000 after acquiring an additional 771,919 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.90% of the company’s stock.

Alliant Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

Alliant Energy stock opened at $63.05 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.33. Alliant Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $47.23 and a 52 week high of $66.54. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $61.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.53. The company has a market capitalization of $16.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.54.

Alliant Energy (NASDAQ:LNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $976.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.14 billion. Alliant Energy had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 17.33%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Alliant Energy Co. will post 3.23 EPS for the current year.

Alliant Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Friday, January 31st were given a dividend of $0.5075 per share. This is an increase from Alliant Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 31st. This represents a $2.03 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. Alliant Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 75.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

LNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank lowered shares of Alliant Energy from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $67.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Alliant Energy in a research report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Alliant Energy from $60.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Alliant Energy from $65.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Alliant Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.55.

Alliant Energy Company Profile

Alliant Energy Corporation operates as a utility holding company that provides regulated electricity and natural gas services in the United States. It operates in three segments: Utility Electric Operations, Utility Gas Operations, and Utility Other. The company, through its subsidiary, Interstate Power and Light Company (IPL), primarily generates and distributes electricity, and distributes and transports natural gas to retail customers in Iowa; sells electricity to wholesale customers in Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa; and generates and distributes steam in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.